Behind the Blogger v3
August 09, 2016, by Deena @Shoes to Shiraz
Welcome to the 3rd edition of Behind the Blogger. You can read our previous interviews here. Today we'd like you to get to know Leslie from Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After, Lisa from Daily Style Finds and Nicole from Nick & Nik a bit better. Enjoy!
What's comfort food to you?
Comfort food is like an edible hug that warms you from the inside out. As a little girl, comfort food would have been my mom's fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. Had that every birthday. And her warm from the oven homemade cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, and crusty loaves of homemade bread. Now that I am a wife, mom and grandmom cooking for my family, chicken pot pie, chicken and dumplings, biscuits and sausage gravy would be my top comfort foods at our house.
Pizza, Five Guys Cheeseburger & Fries, and DQ Reese's Peanut Butter Cup blizzard! (I also love beef stew and pot roast in the winter!)
Chips & Dip
Tell us about the coolest vacation you have ever been on.
In 1976, my parents took our family on a grand tour of many of the national parks in the western United States. Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Tetons, Mount Rushmore and just as many exciting cities. We drove from one place to another in the family station wagon. Good times.
As an adult, my coolest vacation was an all inclusive stay in Cancun, Mexico. Our resort was gorgeous...GORGEOUS. The food was delicious. The beach beautiful. I loved every minute of my time spent with my Prince in paradise.
I love NYC, so spending time there is one of my favorite things to do. I also enjoy spending time by the water - either the ocean or a lake. When I was younger someone in my family had a cottage at a lake - and I enjoyed spending time there, which is one of my best childhood memories. (And, where I really embraced my tomboy side, like walking around barefoot with a leech between my toes! Yuck!) I also went on an Alaskan cruise with my mom - almost 10 years ago.
Oh gosh, so many. Costa Rica is probably my fave - so much to see, monkeys everywhere. Rain forests are beautiful!
What did you aspire to do or be when you were in high school?
In high school, I read the book Christy by Catherine Marshall about a young woman who moves to Appalachia to teach the impoverished children there. I decided I wanted to be a pediatrician who worked in Appalachia. When all was said and done, I graduated with a major in art education. I did my student teaching with the poor children of the Smoky Mountains on the Appalachian Trail. And have worked with underprivileged children throughout my career.
I wanted to be a psychologist and drive a 5-series white BMW. Well, neither of those came to fruition -- I am not a psychologist, and I do not own a BMW.
An artist
Tell us something you admire about your parents.
There are so many things I admire about my parents. Their incredible work ethic. Their genuinely good hearts. Their intelligence, sense of humor and creativity. And their ability to save money!
My mom is my best friend and someone that would do anything for me. She is also a strong woman of faith - and a great witness to me who strengthens my Christian faith. My dad died suddenly two years ago. I did not get to spend as much time with him as I would have liked for many years, due to some poor decisions he made in his life; however, he was a generous and giving person. When I was younger, we loved to laugh together - and it is where I got my joking/prankster side. I miss him - and wish he wasn't gone so soon!
37 years of marriage. Something to be commended. I've seen them fight maybe 2 times ever.
What's your favourite book and why?
How can a librarian pick just one? I have a new favorite with every book I read! I guess my all-time favorite would be The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. I developed a 'friendship' with Anne and felt as though she was talking just to me through her diary entries. She shares such insight and wisdom about life and the world she was hidden away from.
I am not an avid reader, so most of my reading revolves around daily devotionals. One of my favorite devotions is Jesus Calling. From time to time, I will read books about successful people to find out about their behind the scene stories - like Delivering Happiness (Zappos) and #GirlBoss (owner of Nasty Gal).
The Red Tent. It's something different to me every time I read it. I read it newly married. Again after being divorced, and then again after having 4 kids. I think all women should read it.
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